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Two Suspects in Jordan Bombings Said to be Iraqi; Jordanian Leader Condemns Bombings; Jordanians Express Outrage; Zarqawi's History Shows Making of Terrorist

Aired November 10, 2005 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: From CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what we're working on for you right now.
Suicide bombers strike. Who's behind the deadly hotel attacks in Amman, Jordan? Could it happen in the United States? New York City hotels stepping up security. We're tracking these stories and more.

CNN's LIVE FROM start right now.

The suicide bombings at the three international hotels in Jordan appear to have been very well planned. CNN has new information on the identity of two of the three suicide bombers and the type of explosives that were used. For that, we go straight to CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, an official with detailed knowledge of the investigation as it is unfolding says the current information is that Jordan has identified at least two of the suicide bombers as being Iraqi. That is what they currently believe.

Witnesses had conversations with some of the bombers as they entered hotels. They were cool, calm and collected, we are told, one of them even going to a hotel bar to order a drink, apparently speaking to some people and having an accent that witnesses now report appeared to be Iraqi.

What the forensics currently appear to be showing is that the suicide bombers had suicide belts with ball bearings in them. That is a hallmark of a suicide bomb attack. Not clear, yet, to us what type of explosives were used. But all of this, very similar to the types of attacks that have been seen inside Iraq.

So what the focus of the investigation is, apparently, inside Jordan now, is to find those who may have helped. Did these people who came into Jordan, if they'd been there for a long time, did they just cross in? What kind of help, what kind of facilitators did they have inside Jordan? And that is what Jordanian security services now are working on to try and find the rest of this operation, if it still exists.

We are also told, however, that Jordanian security services do feel they have a good handle on the situation, as of now. Publicly, they're not accepting the U.S. offer of law enforcement assistance. Behind the scenes, of course, there is expected to be very close cooperation and intelligence sharing between the two governments. They have a very long standing cooperative relationship. That will not change.

And still, Kyra, at this hour, the No. 1 suspect is Abu Musab al- Zarqawi -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon.

Now let's take you straight to King Abdullah of Jordan, responding and condemning those attacks yesterday.

KING ABDULLAH, JORDAN (through translator): ... for those with wounds with speedy recovery, God willing.

This is not the first time where Jordan is exposed to such terrorist, cowardly acts. Jordan is not the only country that is suffering from those operations. Many of the countries of the region and the world suffer from such terrorist acts and maybe more and more severe.

And we know that Jordan is targeted, maybe more than other countries, for many reasons, of which is its role, its message, in defending the sense of Islam, the religion of tolerance and moderation, and fighting terrorists, those who kill innocent people in the name of Islam, and Islam is innocent from them -- of them.

We confirm here, to everybody, that we will pursue those criminals and those who stand behind them, and we will reach them wherever they are. And we will kick them out, get them out of their hideouts and will bring them to justice.

Jordan does not fear and does not accept blackmail, and their -- those operations will never push us to change our position or our convictions. They will never make us retreat from our role in combating terrorism in all its forms.

All criminal, cowardly acts that Jordan suffers from will increase our strength, enhance our strength, and determination to hold fast to our position, and to confront, very forcefully, to all those who try to mess with the security of this country and its stability.

Our confidence in our security systems and their ability and capabilities to protect the security of the nation and the stability of the nation is very high. We have high confidence.

If those terrorists succeed in executing an operation here or there, we, at the same time, in the past, have foiled, God to be praised, many of the attempts and plans, terrorist plans and operations that targeted this country.

PHILLIPS: As Jordan's King Abdullah condemns those terrorist attacks yesterday, the capital of Jordan this hour is in a state of anger and shock, as you can imagine, from the government down to ordinary residents. There's outrage over yesterday's deadly suicide bombings at three western hotels in Amman.

There's shock over the death toll: at least 56 people killed, more than 100 wounded, most of the victims Jordanians. Al Qaeda in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the nearly simultaneous attacks. The suspected mastermind, the Jordanian born leader of the terror group, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Let's go to Hala Gorani. She's in Amman.

Hala, tell me about these protests behind you. Are they calling for Zarqawi's head?

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're calling Zarqawi a low life in Arabic. That's what they're chanting.

And we spoke to a journalist, a Jordanian journalist in the last hour, and she told us she went to Zarqa, Zarqa, of course, being the hometown of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

She said for the first time since -- since she's been reporting on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Jordan and his ties to that town, for the first time she is sensing that there is a sea change in the way people perceive this group, and that they are now openly saying that they oppose this type of deadly terrorist attack.

What we're seeing here are protesters supporting the monarchy, a show of nationalism, saying that they, Jordanians, are united -- are united as they feel that they have been wounded and attacked. And even though Jordan was seen for many years as a likely target of terrorists, they're saying, "This is absolutely unacceptable, and it's something that we're going to fight" -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now Hala, I understand that there is an Iraqi community there in Amman, Jordan. Do they believe the suicide bombers came from this community or do they think these Iraqi suicide bombers came from Iraq and crossed over?

GORANI: I think the -- we don't have the answer to that. But, among analysts, the belief is if these suicide bombers, two out of the three, according to some intelligence officials, were from Iraq, that they crossed over from Iraq.

The Iraqi community here is an Iraqi community that, since the beginning of the war, poured in over the border, trying to find a safe haven here, investing a lot of money here, in many case, buying real estate, investing in companies. It's the kind of Iraqi community that feels that it might have a future here.

So intelligence officials and among analysts, the presumption is if those who committed the suicide bombings, two of the three, were Iraqis, then that they crossed over -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Hala Gorani. Thank you so much. And as Hala mentioned, those people behind her and behind her camera are protesting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Let's talk more about him. CNN's Nic Robertson has a chilling look into this terrorist's past.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraq, May 2004. American Nick Berg is about to be beheaded, his execution recorded and released on a web site titled Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Slaughters an American. Its barbarity rockets Zarqawi from relative obscurity to front-page familiarity.

But already, he is the deadliest insurgent in Iraq. Born Ahmed Fadil al-Khalayleh, he later took his nom de guerre, Zarqawi, from the name of his hometown, Zarqa.

It looks pretty from a distance. But up close, it's different, crammed by successive waves of Palestinian refugees, one of the poorest towns in the country.

(on camera) With its densely packed housing and intense tribal loyalties, Zarqa's been compared to the Bronx. But others liken its down at heel working class neighborhoods to Detroit.

For Zarqawi, though, it was a place of limited opportunity.

(voice-over) Outside the house where he was born in October 1966, neighbors say they remember the family well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They were simple people. They lived a simple life. They barely made it.

ROBERTSON: His father fought against the Israelis in 1948 and was well respected before he died. In this picture at the time, the young Zarqawi looks unremarkable but seems determined to earn respect like his father.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If someone would even harm his neighbor, Zarqawi would always come to defend the victim. He always did good deeds, nothing wrong.

ROBERTSON: His days were spent here in Zarqa School. But by all accounts, he didn't excel academically.

(on camera) Zarqawi left school before his final exams, disappointing his parents. He didn't seem to have a career in mind, and his father tried to fix him up with a job, the local municipality.

(voice-over) That was 1982. Zarqawi was about 16, developing a reputation as a tough guy who, against Muslim custom, drank and got a tattoo.

Outside his old mosque, I tracked down his brother-in-law, hoping he can tell me more.

(on camera) Excuse me, sir, can we talk to you about Abu Musab, your brother-in-law? Is that possible? You don't -- nothing? You don't want to say?

(voice-over) He's not unfriendly, just unwilling to talk. In 1989, the U.S.-backed Mujahideen were on the verge of driving the soviet army out of Afghanistan. Thousands of Arabs, including Osama bin Laden, were in the fight. Zarqawi decided to join them.

In these rare pictures, taken soon after he arrived, Zarqawi is seen relaxing, mixing happily with other jihadists, or Muslim holy warriors. He had arrived as the jihad was ending.

Some reports say Zarqawi never fought the Soviets, others that he was very brave in battle. All accounts agree, though, he befriended this man, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, a Kuwaiti-born cleric, intent on the violent overthrow of secular Arab governments.

Much of what he did in Afghanistan is unknown. There are conflicting accounts of whether or not he met Osama bin Laden.

General Ali Shukri (ph) was a military and intelligence adviser to Jordan's King Hussein and knows Zarqawi's case file.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He decided to join the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. He was trained. He became a bomb expert.

ROBERTSON: Zarqawi left Afghanistan in 1992. He came back to Jordan, with new friends, ideas and an agenda.

Nic Robertson, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And those protesters continue to march outside the Radisson Hotel in downtown Jordan, screaming out "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a low life," in Arabic. They continue to protest this man.

Meanwhile, after these bombings in Jordan, the question cries out again, why is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi still on the loose?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): A year ago today, United States forces were fighting to capture Falluja, Zarqawi's reputed home base in Iraq. U.S. troops killed hundreds of insurgents. They overran a building, described as Zarqawi's Falluja headquarters, but they didn't get Zarqawi.

Less than three months later, in February, the Americans laid a trap and may have thought that they had him dead to rights. But the truck that the military thought Zarqawi was riding in managed to evade a road block. When U.S. forces finally pulled it over, no Zarqawi.

How close was it? Taken from the truck, Zarqawi's personal computer, which had photographs of the terrorist stored on its hard drive. That raid netted two of Zarqawi's top lieutenants.

As for Zarqawi, he's still on the loose.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: In the aftermath of the Jordan bombing, security's being stepped up in hotels in this country. We're going to take you live to New York City.

The news keeps coming and we'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Although the hotels that were bombed in Jordan yesterday were popular with international tourists, most of the victims were Jordanians. CNN's Brent Sadler walked through the wreckage with one of the managers of the Radisson Hotel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's just walk along here and see how far we can get, because the area's now a lot clearer than it was. I know Jordanian security are still very much in control here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, we -- we don't want to -- because it's a crime scene, I don't know if we can go any further or not.

SADLER: We won't go in, they won't allow us. But maybe we can just get to the...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the maximum. I can see all of our stuff, from managers to everybody, engineering (ph), as it's clearing out. We want to make it happen, you know. We want to make sure that things go by and -- not going to let this happen.

SADLER: That area there, have you been inside?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been inside. It's been cleared. Most of the people who were inside managed to go out safely. We checked under the rubble, and there was no people left anymore, since last night.

SADLER: That area over there behind the soldier, that is where the most casualties and loss of life was suffered?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, on the left side, because this is the wall between the bar and the ballroom. So most of the casualties happened in the right side of the ballroom, where the suicide bomber blew himself up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now, the deadliest of those bombings in Jordan yesterday took place at the hotel you just saw, at a wedding reception. These are heartbreaking pictures taken just before that bomb went off. The first photo shows the bride and groom here. They survived.

In the second photo, the bride and groom are joined by their fathers. Both of those men died in that blast, along with several other relatives. Hundreds of guests were attending that reception.

The groom says the explosion occurred just as he and his bride were entering the room. One guest told a reporter, quote, "Terrorism has robbed us of our joy."

In the wake of those bombing, New York police are stepping up their patrols of hotels. CNN's Chris Huntington joins us from lower Manhattan.

Chris, what's being done exactly?

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the New York police department has deployed its usual heavy force of uniformed officers in a higher concentration to the major hotels around New York City.

We are standing outside of a Ritz Carlton hotel down in lower Manhattan, near the financial district. We're a couple blocks from Wall Street, a couple of blocks from the World Financial Center, which is itself right across street from the World Trade Center site.

I don't have to elaborate for you or the viewers why this is a charged area of New York City. The fact that there are police in evidence, however, is not really unique or new to New Yorkers or, frankly, to the administrations that have been handling New York security here since 9/11.

Both former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and current and recently re- elected Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have staked their administrations on making New York safer, both day to day, but also more secure against any potential threat of terrorism.

Now there are more heavily armed units of the police department. There's one well known unit called the Hercules Unit, essentially, a SWAT-like team. That moves around in no -- certainly in no publicized pattern and can show up at any moment in time.

I can tell you that here at this site, the visible police presence has sort of ebbed and flowed. It's back up to about ten uniformed officers outside the hotel. As recently as an hour ago it was down to two. That's also in keeping with police procedure. They certainly don't want to have a recognizable pattern of the way these officers move or conduct their business -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Chris Huntington, we'll follow up with you throughout the day.

Meanwhile, a developing story right here in Atlanta, Georgia. A prisoner has escaped while being transported. Our Fredricka Whitfield is on the screen. It's happening right now. LIVE FROM has got the news you want all afternoon. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Want to take you straight to the New York Stock Exchange, Susan Lisovicz checking the numbers for us. Susan, what do you have?

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And a story that we've been following for you throughout the day on CNN. Business has come to a halt at the city hall in Arvada, Colorado. The bomb squad is calling the shots in that Denver suburb right now, evacuating the building as it continues to inspect a suspicious car. Inside is a propane gas tank. Witnesses say a man parked the car early this morning, then grabbed a duffel bag and bolted. A manhunt is now under way.

Authorities in Atlanta still on the lookout for this hour for a man who jumped out of a police-transport van earlier today.

Our own Fredricka Whitfield on the scene with the details.

Fred, what do you know right now.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Kyra.

Well, Atlanta law enforcement is hoping this turns out to be more of an embarrassment for them and less of a dangerous threat for the general populous. Let me tell you exactly what happened, or at least what they think happened. While being transported to this Atlanta Fulton County jail, along with three other suspects, James Henderson, charged with marijuana possession and child cruelty allegedly somehow got out in between getting out of the transport van from Atlanta P.D. and the saliport entrance to the jail here. It happened about three- and-a-half hours ago. And now Atlanta police, along with the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, as well as the FBI, have widened their search throughout the Atlanta area here for Henderson, believed to be wearing a white T-shirt, blue jacket, blue sweatpants, and somewhere in his mid-20s is his age.

James Henderson was wearing flex cuffs as well, not metal cuffs, so it's believed that he was able to likely remove those rather easily. He was arrested earlier this morning during a narcotics raid. And police say because there were children present, along with marijuana, therein justified the charges of marijuana possession, as well as child cruelty, and now James Henderson is being searched for as an escapee -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll stay on the story. Thanks so much, Fred.

Meanwhile, Tennessee prosecutors plan to charge a 14-year-old with first-degree murder. The teen, whose name hasn't been officially released, is accused of killing an assistant principal at a high school in Jacksboro. The school was locked down after the shooting happened on Tuesday, and the suspect could be arraigned Monday. Prosecutors want to try him as an adult. The school's principal and another assistant principal are recovering from their gunshot wounds. In so many stories of school shooting, the shooters turn out to be troubled kid, loners, outsiders, kids who were picked on, who sent plenty of warnings that should have tipped off the adults in charge. As for the shooting in Campbell County, Tennessee, based on what we know, that doesn't seem to be the case, at least from what we know.

Here's CNN's David Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Because he is a minor, we will now show you his face or tell you his name. But the identity of the 15-year-old Campbell County school shooting suspect is the worst-kept secret of this tight-knit east Tennessee community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did have friends. I mean, he talked to everyone. Like, he wasn't, like, someone that sit and wrote in a notebook and then kill somebody. He just was -- he seemed like a normal kid.

MATTINGLY: His father owns a roadside store, a popular stop for gas and takeout. A little over a mile away, there is his grandfather's house. The retired bread truck driver still lives there.

They all share the same first name. They are generations of a family well-liked, according to neighbors, making their home in a place that holds small-town values in very high regard.

DEWAYNE KITTS, LAFOLLETTE RESIDENT: It's a real quiet area, you know, kind of like a Mayberry-type town, you know. And this is -- everybody is just really shocked right now. And it's just hard to, you know, imagine something like that could happen here.

MATTINGLY: At the closed high school gates, among prayers and praise for a murdered vice principal, talk turns to a well-known 15- year-old described by many as a smiling face in the crowd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He always seemed happy. Like, he was the kind of person that every time I ever seen him in the hallway or outside after school, he would run past me, and he would laugh or smile or something.

MATTINGLY: But talk to enough people, and the picture that emerges seems as unfocused as the one on your screen. A skateboarder who was outwardly happy but frequently troubled, acquaintances say, when his parents divorced.

(on camera): Neither school officials nor county investigators will confirm or discuss any previous problems. In fact, the image of a dangerous teenager seems unfamiliar to most classmates.

(voice over): Especially to those who talked to him just hours before he allegedly killed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just basically said, hey, what's up? How have you been? And we were just catching up on stuff. And then after that, I went to class, and he did that.

MATTINGLY: David Mattingly, CNN, Campbell County, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, he goes out on a political limb, and members of parliament chop it off. Is the party over for England's Tony Blair? We're checking it out, straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures in the heart of Amman, Jordan. Once again, these are the protesters calling for the head of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, a man they are saying in Arabic, is a low life, a man they believe is behind the terrorist attacks that rocked this downtown area, three explosions in three U.S. hotels, based there in Amman, Jordan. We're following the protest and this story as it continues to get much bigger.

Meanwhile, more suicide bombings in Iraq, and they're the deadliest by far at a Baghdad restaurant.

More now from Aneesh Raman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At least three suicide attacks ripping through Iraq, the deadliest taking place at 9:30 this morning at a restaurant in central Baghdad. A suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest entered the restaurant on Abu Nawaz (ph) Street, one of the main commercial thoroughfares through the Iraqi capital, and blew himself up. At least 30 people confirmed dead. Tens of others wounded in that attack.

We haven't seen a restaurant targeted like this since mid-June. At that time, the target it seemed were Iraqi security forces who were gathering near a restaurant in the green zone for breakfast.

Also in Tikrit, north of the Iraqi capital, a suicide car bomb detonating near an Iraqi army medical facility, at least four people confirmed dead there.

Also today, Iraqi police saying they have found the bodies of 27 civilians, all of them, their hands bound behind their back, shot execution-style. The discovery comes near the Iranian border. They say the bodies have been there for days. Discoveries like this are nothing new in Iraq. It always remains unclear, though, exactly who are behind these killings.

Now all of this does beg the perennial question of how to curb these suicide attacks. That answer remains twofold. First, of course, securing Iraq's border. That Syrian border continues to see a flow of foreign fighter, weapons and cash into Iraq. Along that end, Operation Steel Curtain, a combined U.S. and Iraqi military operation continues to be under way in and around that Syrian border. Secondly is of course getting better intelligence, better information from the Iraqi civilian population as to the whereabouts of insurgents who are living among the civilians in this, an urban- warfare fight. For that, you need Iraqi security forces to become the face of the security apparatus in Iraq.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now, in Britain, the political piranhas are circling, and the scent of blood is in the water at Parliament today. A stinging defeat over anti-terror laws leaves Prime Minister Tony Blair to face blaring headlines like "Beginning of the End," and "Teflon Tony is Dead."

CNN's European political editor, Robin Oakley, with more now in London. What do you think, Robin? Is Tony Blair finished?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: He's not finished, but he's badly damaged, dented, bruised. He is, as you say, not the Teflon Tony that he was. He's been in power since 1997. This was the first time he's been defeated in the British Parliament. Forty-nine of his own MPs rebelled against him. That has shredded his authority.

Worse than that, everybody's now questioning his judgment. He tried to push through a part of the law which would have given the police power to hold terrorist suspects up to 90 days without charge. Everybody told him that was too much against the British standard of civil liberties. He wouldn't get it through Parliament. He insisted on doing so. He wouldn't compromise. He's been defeated and he's damaged, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Could he resign?

OAKLEY: No, he won't resign. He's going to carry on. But the problem is that there are a lot of rebels in own party who don't like what he's doing on health and education. And because he said he's not going to fight the next election, he's started to lose authority anyway. You can see it seeping away from him, day by day.

There are no longer willing to follow him just anywhere he says. The Labor Party have never loved Tony Blair; they have respected him for the results he's got. At the election, his majority fell from 160 to 66, largely because of his association with George Bush and the war in Iraq.

He's no longer the power that he was. He will stay on as prime minister. It's very difficult to eject a British prime minister and a Labor Party leader ...

PHILLIPS: Robin ...

OAKLEY: ... but he's damaged goods. He's not got the power he had, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: A lot of people on his heels, Robin. This leader in waiting, Gordon Brown, what do you know about him?

OAKLEY: Gordon Brown has been a highly effective Chancellor of the Exchequer. That's the chief finance minister in Britain. Very respected for his intellect, really, the strongest man in the party, apart from Tony Blair. Everybody sees him as the leader in waiting.

You can see people who have been loyal Blairites now starting to drift over to Gordon Brown and become Brownites. They reckon he's the man who's going to take over. The question is when. And what has happened in Parliament this week has increased the pressure on Tony Blair to step down in favor of Gordon Brown, perhaps a year and a half, two years, from now, rather than go on right through the Parliament, which could last to 2010, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Robin Oakley, thank you so much.

Well, pre-game smack talk before a pro basketball game this week may have gone just a little too far. We're going tell you what the Sacramento Kings did to the Detroit Pistons that has the team issuing a king-sized apology to the Motor City.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Updating a story that we brought you earlier, it's all a big misunderstanding. That's what police in Arvada, Colorado are now telling us. That suspicious car they've been worried about all morning right outside the city hall and post office apparently belongs to a construction worker.

Police say he called after seeing news coverage about it and his story seems to check out. He told them that he had dropped off his girlfriend at city hall but got tired of waiting for her, so he just grabbed his stuff and left.

Sacramento says we're sorry. The owners of the NBA Sacramento Kings bought full-page newspaper ads to apologize to the Detroit Pistons and the people of Detroit. Why? Well, a pregame video before the Kings-Pistons game Tuesday night cast a negative light on that Motor City. Mike TeSelle from Sacramento's KCRA reported yesterday on the Detroit dis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sports 1140, KHTK, Monty until midnight ...

MIKE TESELLE, KCRA REPORTER (voice-over): From local to national sports radio and on playgrounds from Sacramento to Detroit, the Kings organization is today facing strong criticism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think that's definitely over the line. You don't want to show that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just in poor taste.

TESELLE: The controversy centers on player introductions during last night's Kings' home opener versus the Detroit Pistons. On this jumbotron, the Kings ran a series of images depicting Detroit as full of dilapidated, garbage-strewn buildings and burned-out cars. Newspaper headlines in Detroit today called it a cheap insult. Detroit players still reacting, a day later.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS, PISTONS PLAYER: Yes, I thought that was disrespectful. You know, that's not showing a lot of class, whoever put that together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They just wanted to show the dirt and downside.

TESELLE: This controversy, proving so big that Kings' owner Joe Maloof even called into the nationally syndicated Jim Rome radio show to apologize.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The point that Joe wanted to make was number one, he knew nothing about it. Number two, in his words, he feels, quote, "sick," about it.

SONJA BROWN, KINGS SPOKESWOMAN: We realize what a large mistake we made. It was a grave error.

TESELLE: It's a mistake and joke that almost no one from Detroit to right here in Sacramento is finding at all funny.

MONTY MONTEMAYOR, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The person who said, yes, this sounds like a good idea, that was probably a mistake. Because this did not sound like a good idea. But I don't think anybody should be fired for it, no.

TESELLE (on camera): And that sentiment indeed being shared here by the Kings. They're not identifying who was responsible for this video but they are stressing that no one will be fired. No one will even face any punishment. However, the organization says it is reviewing its video procedures to make sure this never happens again. At Arco Arena, Mike TeSelle, KCRA 3 Reports.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the first apology ad ran in the "Detroit News" today. Another full page ad will be in tomorrow's "Detroit Free Press."

Meanwhile, a drug test later proved him wrong, but baseball star Rafael Palmeiro will not be prosecuted for testifying under oath that he had never used steroids. An House Committee launched an investigation after Palmeiro tested positive for a banned steroid just weeks after he testified before Congress. The committee chairman says that today, there's not enough evidence to support a perjury claim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM DAVID (R-VA), GOVERNMENT REFORM CHMN.: Based on the detection windows for this steroid, which are as long as three to four weeks, the committee is unable to conclude that Palmeiro took, purposely or inadvertently, the substance that resulted in his positive test before his March 17th testimony before the committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Palmeiro has issued a statement once again denying that he ever intentionally took steroids. He says that it's possible that a vitamin B-12 injection he received from a teammate might have contained the illegal substance.

Straight to the CDC. We're hearing there's a shortage of flu vaccines. The head of CDC, Gerberding, talking right now.

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, DIR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: ... more than 81 doses of vaccine. That is close to the highest amount of the highest vaccine we've ever had available for immunization in our country. And depending on the supplies that emerge in December, toward the end of the manufacturing cycle, we might actually end up with the most ever influenza vaccine produced in this country.

What is going on at the local level now is that some vaccinators, including physicians and clinicians in office practices, are having trouble getting vaccine. One the reasons for this is that Chiron was not able to get their vaccine out as fast as they had liked. And they are also not producing as much vaccine as they had projected at the beginning of the year. Many clinicians order their vaccine from Chiron. They've been one of the important distributors to that sector. And so those clinicians are delayed.

My own mother called me this week because her doctor told her that her vaccine was not available. She wanted to know if she should go to the neighboring state to get her shot. And the first question I asked her was, is there a flu outbreak in the community? And she said no. I said, when does the doctor think he'll have the vaccine? She said, by the end of month. I said, good, you'll get it in time, just wait and make your appointment so that you can get it when it's available.

We also know some good news about pediatric vaccine. The doses of vaccine especially formulated for children have been distributed. And we don't seem to be experiencing any significant shortages of vaccines for children.

If we continue along this tact of the production coming out of the manufacturing and distribution process, as we predict, and the demand staying constant as we're still primarily in the pre-peak season of influenza, we expect we'll have time for most people to receive their vaccine.

We did focus this year early on on the most priority groups, the people at greatest risk for flu complications. So those people did get a head start. And in most communities that has resulted in the people at greatest need for the vaccine getting it and getting it as early as possible in the season.

We're doing some additional things to help out. I think everyone appreciates that the government and the CDC in particular does not own very much flu vaccine... PHILLIPS: We thought there was possibly shortage on the flu vaccine. Doesn't seem to be the case, as we listen to the Dr. Gerberding there, the head the CDC, saying that the demand remains constant for the flu shot because flu season, of course, could get under way very soon. But she's saying that she can believe -- she believes that everyone's needs will be met. When, indeed, they do need the shot, that no shortages of vaccines appear to be a problem for children. So good news.

Well, straight ahead, we'll make sure that pothole -- he'll make sure that that pothole gets fixed, but may have to finish the book report first. We're going to explain up next. And some new mayors around the country will have to juggle homework with city council meetings. Their story, straight ahead on live from.

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PHILLIPS: Back here in the newsroom. He wasn't even old enough to vote when qualifying began, now he's about to take office as mayor. High school senior Michael Sessions will soon be in charge in Hillsdale, Michigan, population 8,200. He's one of several young people elected to city halls around the country on Tuesday.

Roshini Rajkumar of affiliate WDIB has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSHINI RAJKUMAR, WDIB REPORTER (voice-over): Hillsdale, Michigan, population: 8200.

Take a look at its new leader.

MICHAEL SESSIONS, HILLSDALE, MICHIGAN MAYOR-ELECT: I'm ready to serve this community the best way as I can.

RAJKUMAR: Hillsdale High senior Michael Sessions gets a lot of attention as the city's youngest mayor-elect. A past track and cross country runner, he ran an aggressive write-in campaign, beating out the 51-year-old incumbent.

SESSIONS: I got fire departments' endorsement. You know, I've several articles. I've made public appearances, and I've got these yard signs out.

SCOTT SESSIONS, FATHER: I don't know if it will really affect our family so much, but I know Michael's going to be busy.

RAJKUMAR: Busy one day after the big win, means just dropping in on English class. The only one old enough to vote in the room doesn't mind he can't stay today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This young man has a future ahead of him, and I'm very proud of him as he represents the city of Hillsdale.

RAJKUMAR: But soon Michael, or Mayor Sessions to some, will have to get back to this reality. (on camera): How will you balance high school with this new job as mayor, Michael?

SESSIONS: Just so you on know, I'm a student from 7:50 to 2:30 each day, and then from 3:00 to 6:00, I'll be doing mayor business.

RAJKUMAR: The new mayor takes office November 21. He tells me he looks forward to giving Hillsdale a fresh start.

At Hillsdale High, Roshini Rajkumar, Local 4.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, soon to be Mayor Sessions has some company. Voters in Roland, Iowa, have also elected a high school senior to the mayor's post. Samuel Juhl turned 18 just last week. No other candidates were actually on the ballot, but he defeated a dozen write- in candidates. Can we get the prompter moving? That would be great. His campaign strategy included handing out buttons at school and hanging a sign from a parked truck.

And a Connecticut town has also joined the youth movement. Voters in Torrington, population 34,000, elected a 22-year-old to replace their incumbent mayor. Ryan Bingham is a recent college grad. That makes him a senior citizen compared with those other two mayors. Bingham is the son of a state House member. He says that he knocked on about 6,000 doors during his campaign.

Well, the second hour of LIVE FROM hopefully starts right now.

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